Specter
スペクター Specter Specter|Dislikes =Humans, bananas, people that will stop at nothing to prevent him from executing his world domination plan like Spike, Jimmy, Kei, and Yumi |Gender = Male|Family = Unknown|Appears = |Likes = Being the future leader of a new age, admiring the handiwork he and his fellow monkeys have made to signify their dominance over mankind, teaming up with his monkey brethren to dominate mankind}} Specter ( ) is the main antagonist of the [[Ape Escape (Series)|Ape Escape'' series]] and the focus of all the main series of games. He is an albino monkey that used to perform in a juggling act during his stay at Monkey Park. During the events of Ape Escape, Specter accidentally gets a hold of an experimental helmet that boosts his intelligence; freeing the rest of the apes from the amusement park and using the Time Station made by the Professor to travel back in time. Although he was defeated, Specter quickly took any chances he got to retry world domination in various ways, either through mass mind control or chopping the Earth in half. He is best known for his advanced Peak Point Helmet that he created himself off of the original model which also gives him super powers and his mechanized throne that he is rarely seen without. Appearance Specter is an albino monkey and thus has white hair and red eyes. His hair is spiked and usually has blue coloring at the very tips of each spike, with a bang covering one of his eyes usually. His skin is pale (due to being an albino). In the first game and its remake, he wore nothing but red shorts and a black, shredded cloth with simple brown boots. He kept this appearance for Ape Escape 2001, Ape Escape 2, and Ape Escape: Pumped and Primed as well. In Ape Escape 3 and Ape Escape: SaruSaru Big Mission, he wears a tuxedo that Monkey Pink had knitted for him. However he kept the same style of boots. In the expanded media such as the anime or Ape Escape: Million Monkeys, Specter wears a red cape with black leather boots and a white belt with decals on it followed with an alternate colored helmet. He is usually seen smirking or grinning. In PlayStation Move: Ape Escape, Specter wears a space suit. Personality Specter is arrogant and typically self-centered most of the time, claiming that humans are a weak species that should be living beneath monkeys and other species of primates. This is a side effect of the helmet, most likely being the source of his aggression and hatred. Or, Specter could finally understand the situation his species is in (being forced to perform, experimented on, kept inside zoos and etc.) and perceive humans as a threat. His typical dark humor is what he is best known for, extremely dark and playful with a sharp tone of sarcasm. In a nut shell he is very cocky and believes no one can stop him. Over the course of the games, this does not change much. Specter was at his most dangerous in the first game simply due to how close his plan was to succeeding in world domination and the countless amounts of resources he had. At first avoiding Spike before actually trying to kill him twice, each time Spike survived Specter’s attempts to off him or break his spirit by sending Jake to compete against him it caused Specter’s mental state to deteriorate slightly. By the time Spike had fully ruined Specter’s plans and damaged the albino’s resources beyond repair Specter had fully lost it, even having a short mental breakdown in front of Spike before teleporting away. When Spike finally caught up to him for the final time, Specter professed that he missed his old trainer, but still had no plans to return to the park and engaged Spike in a final battle. His own over confidence in his abilities proved to be Specter’s own defeat and he was captured finally. After Ape Escape 2, Specter’s temperament was gone, and he planned to do whatever it took so that his plan would succeed. Long term use of the helmet and repeated failures caused Specter to become slightly more sadistic and possibly insane; aiming to chop the world in half without caring for human life. It is possible that Specter knew the humans would die, and since his TV broadcasts left almost everyone except a slight few brainwashed no one would have been able to survive, with himself and the monkeys possibly living on Saru-3 or possibly the moon. In this case, Specter has also tried to commit genocide of the entire human race. Over time, Specter became more dictator like than the first game, becoming more and more desperate while losing his sanity to a complete breakdown. Suffice to say while in the first two games Specter showed mercy or at least tried to avoid killing the protagonist, Specter legitimately attempted to kill Kei and Yumi himself during the final battle of Ape Escape 3. Abilities Specter is proficient with telepathic powers, relying heavily on energy shields and blasts for offensive and defensive capabilities. He is also capable of creating false versions of himself to distract enemies. Finally, it seems the more angry he gets the stronger he gets. For instance, in Ape Escape 3, Specter was easily able to create energy blasts that extended out in radius similar to a nuclear detonation, as well as using shields. Biography Ape Escape/Ape Escape: On the Loose Specter originally was a white monkey that preformed at the amusement park in a juggling act. Somehow a beta Peak Point helmet is found inside of his performer’s tent and out of curiosity he puts it on, gaining super intelligence almost instantly. Specter escapes his area before releasing the rest of the monkeys, causing a massive riot that follows all the way to the Professor’s laboratory. Busting in, the monkeys under Specter’s control proceeded to tie up both the Professor and his granddaughter Natalie while inspecting how the time machine works. It was then that Spike and Jake walked in accidentally; Specter ignores their presence and ordered the time machine to be activated. Within moments everyone except for Natalie and the Professor were dragged back in time to different periods. Later, Specter contacted Natalie and the Professor after finding out Spike was trying to damage his plans and that the original creator of the monkey helmet was aiding Spike with gadgets. Introducing himself, Specter told the three of his plans and threatened that if they didn’t back off he would not hesitate to deal with them, showing off his new helmet Specter proceeded to show that he had somehow brought Jake under his control; the brainwashing a manifest of Spike and Jake’s friendly rivalry. When Spike finally caught up with Specter and Jake, the albino ignored the boy’s presence and proceeded to teleport away in his Battle cruiser, leaving a large robot with an ax behind to discard of Spike. The flame-haired child survived and returned to the present, taking out the power reserve and the factory Specter had been using after being instructed by the A.I Casi to do so; the Professor and Natalie having been kidnapped by Specter. Spike once again attempted to face Specter at the T.V. Tower the apes were using as a base, finally getting on Specter’s nerves he attempted to kill Spike with the large mechanized battle cruiser he possessed but failed. Retreating once more and contacting Spike later on, telling him to come to the remodeled Monkey Park to find his friends before something “terrible” happens. After saving the Professor and Natalie from their death trap filled rides, Spike fought with Jake a final time and freed him of Specter’s control. Knowing now that the ten year old was indeed a threat, Specter urged Spike to come to the castle for a “talk”. Soon after Spike arrived in the castle, the huge fortress had lifted off of the ground and the security system activated (Specter most likely intended to trap and kill Spike this way). However despite the challenging security system and the dangerous passageways outside the castle Spike was forced to take, he eventually reached Specter’s throne room where the albino tried to brainwash Spike the same way he did Jake. This fails and after a desperate battle with Spike, Specter finally caves and has a mental breakdown before teleporting away. Nowhere to be found, Spike goes back to the previous time forces to recapture any monkeys he missed in order to make sure Specter could not muster his forces in retaliation to try anything else. Once that was done, Spike confronted Specter a final time. For once in the entire crisis, the albino admitted his feelings for his old trainer, although he still had no plans to return on his own and entered a final battle with Spike. Losing, he was finally captured and was last seen as a normal monkey being held by his trainer at the park. If Spike gets a Game Over and Specter shows up, he will taunt Spike for being defeated. Ape Escape 2001 The storyline is a lot simpler compared to the original game. Specter has made all the monkeys' pants dirty and Spike has to wash them (by stealing them from the apes) Ape Escape 2 After Jimmy accidentally sends a group of Pipo Helmets along with Monkey Pants to the Amusement park when Specter (as a normal monkey) comes across the Helmet once more and regains his Evil plans and intelligence. This time he sends his monkeys around the world to change it to his liking. He has also been giving special Vita-Z Bananas to a group of five special apes, called The Freaky Monkey Five. After Jimmy captures all of the Freaky Monkey Five, except for Yellow Monkey, Jimmy's friend, Pipotchi is kidnapped as Specter plans to use the data in his Peak Point helmet and transfer it into a device called the "Lethargy Laser". He is soon confronted in a monkey controlled Military Base waiting for Jimmy in a hi-tech gunship. Before the two can battle however, Yellow Monkey is now a giant due to overdosing on the Vita-Z Bananas and attacks. Specter flees and soon reveals his plans to use the laser to make all the humans in the world lose their will to fight. Making it easier for him and his apes to take over the world. Jimmy tries to convince him otherwise, much like Spike previously but to no avail. Jimmy never gives up, with that he captures Specter. Shortly afterwards, Specter escapes and goes into hiding on a secret base on the Moon while Jimmy captures the monkeys that he missed. When the Professor discovers Specter's hideout, Jimmy goes after him and he is captured once more and captured. Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed Before the High-Tech Tournament, Specter sends out several Pipo Monkeys to participate in in tournament. He even hypnotizes Jake again for good measure. After the First Round ends, he send out Jake to personally train with Monkeys so they can get better, while also dealing with Team Spike, Helga, and the Pipotrons. After the Second Round ends, Specter appears in person with a walking Goliath- Super Goliath, and destroys a highway. He scolds the Pipo Monkeys for to performing well, and reveals that the Monkeys entered the Tournament to prove to the worlds the Monkeys with Pipo Helmets are smarter than humans. He is then attacked by the Pipotron Yellow's laser beam, and decides to get rid of all the except for his monkeys. After Team Spike, Helga, and the Pipotrons beat Goliath, Specter retreats. Specter and Jake are later defeated in the Semi Finals. After the Pipotrons win the High-Tech Tournament, and gives Nazo the Disk, Nazo turns the tournament into the Virus-Tech Tournament, and traps everyone in it, including Specter. Nazo gives Specter the Disk, transforming him into Dark Specter, along with Battleship Goliath, reveling that the Disk can work on both humans and monkeys. After Dark Specter is defeated, he transforms back to normal, albeit collapsed. After Team Spike, Helga, and the Pipotrons destroyed the Grid Core, the Virtual World returns back to normal, and Specter reawakens. Specter meets up with the Pipo Monkeys, and is very proud of them for beating him, despite under mind control. He also witnessed the Pipotrons disappeared from the Virtual World. Afterwards, he takes the Pipo Monkeys to get some bananas, much to his dismay. Ape Escape 3 Specter, through an unexplained accident, receives another Pipo helmet and begins broadcasting hypnotic television shows to every T.V. set in the world. When anyone is caught by suprise by the shows, they would be turned into "mindless couch potatoes". Specter also regrouped the Freaky Monkey Five and has a new human accomplice named Dr. Tomoki, who wants revenge on mankind for laughing at him when his head had been fused with a Monkey Helmet due to an experiment. Kei and Yumi, the younger twin nephew and niece of Aki set out to stop Specter when Spike, Jimmy, and Professor are hypnotized by the mind-controlling television. Later after Specter laughs at Tomoki's secret (Somehow not aware before) The human male leaves Specter's side and joins forces with them. Later they arrive at Specter's base way in Outer Space to face him. Specter reveals his true plan: To send a giant Karate chopped metal hand and chop the earth directly in half so that he can rule one half of it with his monkeys and let the humans fight over the other half. Which he '''was' going to give to Tomoki, up until his betrayal. Kei and Yumi race against time to defeat Specter's Gorilla robot after a confrontation, even after Specter is caught its not long that he recovers his helmet from Monkey Pink who had escaped capture after her battle and released Specter and the rest of the Freaky Monkey Five. Ape Escape: Million Monkeys Specter, having been on vacation, was rather unaware of the events occurring in Million Monkeys up to a certain point. After a Pipotron had assumed Specter's form, the false dictator took over the Monkey Army in a bid for world wide conquest at the behest of his mysterious creator. Needless to say, a few monkeys caught wind of the false Specter and alerted the real one to what was going on. (The security Specter had with him on the island most likely saw the news footage and deduced the other Specter was false, normally monkeys aren't that smart.) Extremely angered by the impostor and realizing he could lose his entire army, Specter immediately returned to Tokyo to deal with the enemy. Along the way he directly encountered his false copy, known as Pipotron Meta, a Pipotron capable of shape shifting. Specter quickly defeated the Pipotron, only to find there were more. After a breif encounter with Spike and his team who were also trying to stop the threat, Specter dealt with Virus Casi, the rest of the Pipotrons, and ended up eventually clearing his name as well as technically coming out as the good guy for once. Ape Escape: SaruSaru Big Mission Specter kidnaps the Professor, Aki, Yumi, Kei, and Jimmy and shrinks the Laboratory with Spike and Natalie still inside of it. Other Appearances Ape Quest Specter doesn't make any direct appearances in this game, though he makes multiple cameos throughout it. Implying that the apes think of him in a god-like manner. Ape Escape Academy and Ape Academy 2 The player stars as an Ape enrolling into the Monkey Academy, raising its grades through a series of Mini-games in order to work for Specter. In Academy 2, Specter invents a new card game popular among Humans and Monkey alike. He makes a super special card after planning world domination and makes those who wish to own it enter a tournament. The winner will receive the card. PlayStation Move: Ape Escape Specter is the only previous character from the older games to return. However he is noticeably very different then his usual forms. It's revealed he was a monkey they planned to send into space until the time came. His trainer/human that worked with him had become very upset when it came time for him to leave. This in turn had made him very upset but they held her back and refused to let him cancel this mission. Sending him up into space where he spent time developing a hatred for humans. He was soon rescued by descendants of other monkeys sent into space and taken to a special ship where he remains. Specter is seen to be very bitter and sad about his entire experience. It's also revealed he dislikes the cold Space air. It's also worth noticing he takes on a more 'emo' appearance compared to before where he could usually be smirking or with a glaring expression. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Specter appears as a non-playable hazard character in the crossover fighting game, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. He, along with Pipo Monkeys, appears in the Time Station stage (which is based on the hub area from the original Ape Escape), where he will constantly summon various creatures from various PlayStation franchises using the time portal, such as a Harpy from God of War III, a Lurker Shark from Jak and Daxter, a Vermin Truck from Twisted Metal, and the main stage hazard, the Satan Chimera from the Resistance series. Specter also appears in the game as a downloadable minion. Spector and the Pipo Monkeys, along with the Goliath robot also appear in the Invasion stage. Other Media Saru Get You ~On Air~ In the anime, Specter was a little white monkey name Kuuta. Kuuta is Natalie's pet monkey and they have a sister and brother relationship. Kuuta was captured by Pipotron J who brainwashed him with a Peak Point Helmet that made him become Specter. Specter wanted to try and make the world just for monkeys and used many of them for his plans. Though he ultimately failed due to Professor and Spike's meddling. When Spike tried to use the Net on him, it failed due to Specter's strength. When the Pipotrons took Specter again into a special virtual world, they chained him up, but then Specter became stronger and broke free and escaped. The second time Spike tried, the Net had been upgraded to transform him back into Kuuta but despite capture, failed to change him back. Specter broke out the Paradise Room, then proceeded to tie up Casi and The Professor. He was about to finish them off until seeing how well his monkeys were being treated. Seeing clips of Spike saving them and tending to them, he was very touched by this and before changing back he helped Spike defeat Pipotron J and willingly removed the helmet. It's revealed that Kuuta was just a host for the real Specter, who modified his form to resemble his own. Then in the final season he pretended to be Pipo Angel. Gallery See Specter/Gallery Trivia *In the UK version of On the Loose, Specter and Spike share voice actors. The voice actor is Marc Silk, who returned to play both character in PlayStation All-Stars. *Specter's appearance has changed the most compared to other characters. *Specter seems to hate the following: Cold, Yellow Monkey, Pink Monkey, and possibly Bananas as seen in the anime when he sent his monkeys to destroy the giant Banana statue Kuuta loved most. Also note, he's never been seen eating them. *The fact he wore a tuxedo in Ape Escape 3 could be based on the phrase "Monkey Suit". **Oddly enough, Specter accepted his Tuxedo gift rather than throwing it away, this could be contributed to the fact that he possibly just likes suits or a pun of the word “Monkey Suit”. * Specter has appeared the most out of all characters, having appeared in almost everything Ape Escape related. *His usual blue highlights appear Pink/violet-colored in Ape Escape Academy. *In Ape Escape: Million Monkeys, Specter ironically uses a Monkey Net of his own to capture his insubordinate monkeys. *Specter is rarely ever seen not seated on his throne, which often serves as a phase 1 of any final battle with him. In order to defeat Specter his chair must be destroyed, however in Ape Escape 3 the throne could not be blown up. *His special attack in Ape Escape 3 is called "No Mercy!" in the US version, and called "No Rest For The Wicked!" in the UK version. *According to the Monkey Radar in Ape Escape 3, Specter's birthday is on January 28th. *He is seen wearing shorts and is wearing clothing. *It should be noted however that despite showing some affection and worry for Helga, he most likely did not value her life. Rather, Specter simply was most likely out of energy and trying to avoid further confrontation. *Specter is the one of the few characters who's name is the same in the American, European, and Japanese games. All other characters either had their names changed, or spelled their names differently. The other characters who have this trait are Hero, Tohko, Tsukushi, and Haru. 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